Tunza Conference Kicks Off!
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The Tunza Conference banner at the Daejeon Convention Centre
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The Tunza International Children and Youth Conference kicked off with a roar on Monday 17 August with 550 children from 110 countries around the world. The Opening Plenary saw the participants welcomed by Daejeon Mayor Park Seoung-Hyo, Dr Kim Jae Bum, the Secretary-General of the UNEP National Committee for Korea, and Dirk Frenzel representing global sponsor Bayer AG.
The first plenary session, which was on Climate Change and Children, saw several young participants present their original, bold and creative projects, including Cassandra Lin’s project to ‘TGIF’ (‘Turn Grease Into Fuel’) in Rhode Island (USA), Eleanor Sutcliffe’s beach clean-up initiative in Wales (UK) and a group of Korean children who make soap from waste oil.
Tunza Junior Board members also spoke out: Francesco Govender updated the participants on the Tunza African Regional Children’s Conference which took place on 7-10 August in Durban, and Yugratna Srivastava gave a rousing speech which ended with her call: “If not now, then when? If not us, then who?”
The children participants will be joined on 20 August by 250 youth aged 15-24. During the weeklong conference – the biggest-ever youth gathering on climate change – the 800 participants will agree on their message to world leaders on climate change just a few months before the key Copenhagen meeting.
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Two of UNEP's Climate Heroes -Luo Hong and David de Rothschild - will attend the Tunza International Children and Youth Conference to meet the participants and tell them about the incredible green projects they are leading in China and the Pacific. >>
News
Video - Chinese Children's Paintings Competition
The activities will include workshops, exhibitions, townhall debate and the advisory council elections. |
 2009 Tunza International Children & Youth Conference Opening Ceremony |
 Cassandra Lin, Turn Grease into Fuel (TGIF) Turn Grease into Fuel- First Video by Cassandra Lin on 2009 Tunza International Children & Youth Conference, Daejeon, Korea |
 Turn Grease into Fuel (TGIF) Turn Grease into Fuel- Second Video by Cassandra Lin on 2009 Tunza International Children & Youth Conference, Daejeon, Korea |
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| Statistic of the Day |
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Tunza Factsheet |
| “Every child will have safe water in the UK, but only 1 in 3 children in Ethiopia will. By 2020, it is projected that some 75-250 million people in Africa will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. Forty-four per cent of the continent's population is under the age of fifteen. (Sources: Save the Children Alliance, IPCC “Summary for Policymakers” of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, 2007; Population Reference Bureau)” |
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Children and climate Change
There are more young people than ever before; more than 1 billion aged 15 to 24, while young people under 15 years old represent currently around 27 per cent of the world's population.
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Media Contacts
Anne-France White
Mobile: (+82) 01058494805,
e-mail: anne-france.white@unep.org
Satwant Kaur
Tel: (+82) 01055502463,
e-mail: satwant.kaur@unep.org
Jang Jun-young
Tel:(+82) 010909634971,
e-mail: jyjang@unep.or.kr
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